The present invention relates to apparatus for manipulating cigarettes, filter rod sections or analogous rod-shaped articles which constitute or form part of smokers' products, and more particularly to improvements in apparatus for transporting such articles from one or more producing machines to one or more consuming or processing machines. Still more particularly, the invention relates to apparatus which can transport and temporarily store cigarettes, filter rod sections or the like between at least one producing and at least one consuming machine.
It is known to install a variable-capacity reservoir adjacent to the path of travel of cigarettes or the like on their way from a maker to a consuming machine (e.g., from a machine for mass-production of cigarettes or filter rod sections to a cigarette packing machine or to a sender which propels filter rod sections to the magazines of two or more filter tipping machines). The volume of the reservoir varies in dependency on changes in the ratio between the requirements of the consuming machine and the output of the maker. The height of the supply of articles in the reservoir cannot be increased at will because the articles (especially cigarettes) of the lowermost layer are likely to be deformed or otherwise damaged if the height of the stack of articles thereabove is excessive. Attempts to avoid such damage to articles, while providing room for storage of relatively large quantities of articles, include the provision of very long reservoirs, often in the form of helical surge bins. Such reservoirs are expensive and occupy a substantial amount of space so that they cannot be installed in all existing plants wherein cigarettes or like rod-shaped articles must be transported from one or more makers to one or more consuming machines. Furthermore, the transport of articles along helical paths during introduction into or evacuation from the reservoir presents many problems, especially as concerns the integrity of articles. Thus, the tobacco-containing ends of articles are likely to lose tobacco in response to repeated changes in the direction of movement between the maker and the consuming machine as well as in the interior of a reservoir.